Spyware and Tracking

What Is Spyware?

Spyware is Internet jargon for advertising-supported software (ad ware). It also can be software that is installed on a computer with or without the owner's consent. What makes ad ware a spyware is having the function of a tracking mechanism on its software.

What Makes Spyware Different From A Cookie?

The cookie is a well-known mechanism for storing information about an Internet user on their computer. It may be a spyware as well, depending on its function.

For example, DoubleClick Inc., a leading banner ad serving company, changed its plans to combine cookie information with database information from other sources to target ad campaigns directly to individuals without their permission.

According to PG Magazine, "companies like DoubleClick use cookies to track you online. Others, like WinWhatWhere, sell key loggers, which let others see your every keystroke. Trojan horses like Back Orifice and NetBus let hackers not only track your behavior but even take control of your PC."

Why Is It Called "Spyware"?

Spyware is installed in your computer as additional software, a two-part software, without the user knowing it's installed. Spyware may also fall in between user consent and not because of "terms and conditions" contract that appear in software when installing it.

"I was tricked in to doing all those things," said Ross Geller of the TV sitcom, "Friends."

Mark Rasch's article, "Shutting Down Spyware Loopholes", has an example of a case where a contract would make a strong difference, and a notice itself is not sufficient to bind the used of its terms. In the case of Netscape, there are two ways to download its browser. First, is downloading from the Netscape web site, which shows the "terms and conditions" contract when installing. The second is through a "SmartDownload" plug-in that skips the contract. Instead there is simply a warning noting:

The use of each Netscape software product is governed by a license agreement. You must read and agree to the license agreement terms BEFORE acquiring a product. Please click on the appropriate link below to review the current license agreement for the product of interest to you before acquisition. For products available for download, you must read and agree to the license agreement terms BEFORE you install the software. If you do not agree to the license terms, do not download, install or use the software.

This notice was the defense that there are terms made available to read from Netscape that every individual is responsible for reading, but the court ruled that the contract itself is important. The author played with the possibility that everything in cyberspace would require a terms and conditions contract. Take an ATM for example. Would it show terms and conditions every time a person makes a withdrawal?

What Does Spyware Do?

Spyware collects data from a personal computer and sends it to the central network of the marketing company

Is Spyware Illegal?

Even though the name may indicate so, spyware is not an illegal type of software in any way.

Real spyware includes PC surveillance tools that allow a user to monitor all kinds of activity on a computer, ranging from keystroke capture, snapshots, email logging, chat logging and just about everything else. These tools are often designed for parents, businesses and similar environments, but can be easily abused if they are installed on your computer without your knowledge.

One good example of keystroke capture is Keykatcher. Keykatcher is software that keeps record of keystrokes. You might think that it restricts itself of internet browsing keystrokes, but actually it captures everything. You would need to plug hardware to your keyboard plug on your computer before plugging the keyboard in it.

The FBI had used keystroke capture to capture criminals, called the Magic Lantern. An article in Law.com by Mary P. Gallagher, which is also published in the New Jersey Law Journal, wrote that lawyers argued that the "key-logger system" violated the Fourth Amendment, by collecting more information than needed, and the federal wiretap statute, 18 U.S.C. 2510, by picking up modem transmissions without a wiretap order. But the argument is that the FBI would have never caught the criminal if the software or hardware was not used in the process. The article did not explain what the software or hardware does since it would jeopardize future criminal investigations. But take the analogy of PC Magazine executive editor David Coursey as "being forced to warn the guy who breaks into your house that you have an alarm, lest the police not be able to arrest him because he didn't know an alarm would go off." There is a high possibility that this hardware or software may be in use on computers in a penitentiary that allow inmates to have pen pals.

Companies like Aureate Media, which distributes free software on the web in exchange for the right to gather user information, have been criticized for not plainly indicating what data they gather and for making it difficult to remove their programming.

Spyware providing the gold mine for file-sharing software users
We can't say that spyware is all bad. Spyware has funded file-sharing software such as Kazaa, Audiogalaxy, BearShare and so on. If you've used a file-sharing program or tried different ones, most likely there is more than one installed in your computer. Kazaa and GAIN (Gator Advertising Information Network) have a strong relationship. GAIN is part of the Kazaa software that cannot be separated. GAIN collects information of Kazaa users that anything the user typed, will receive targeted promotions or ads from Gator advertisers.

Spyware Can Be Good

With its tracking mechanism, spyware can be good for protection. The FBI has proved this by using it to capture criminals. Worried parents can also install spyware to know a child's activity on the computer.

What GAIN collects and may know about you:

• Demographic and lifestyle profiles
• Displaying your message to consumers while they are surfing the web
• Displaying customized offers to consumers based on past behavior
• Some of the web pages viewed
• The amount of time spent at some web sites
• Response to GAIN Ads
• Standard web log information (excluding IP Addresses) and system settings
• What software is on the personal computer
• First name, country, city, and five digit ZIP code
• Non-personally identifiable information on web pages and forms
• Software usage characteristics and preferences

GAIN does not put specifically what it meant by lifestyle profiles but if GAIN were a member of the Network Advertising Initiative, lifestyle would be considered under Sensitive Personally Identifiable Data, which is information that may not be collected. This may include sexual lifestyle and/or orientation.

Will They Leave Us Alone?

MP3 is a major prospect to target people and expose them to more advertising. It is now possible for an mp3 file to be linked to a web site. Some marketing companies have taken advantage of file-sharing programs that are already funded by companies like GAIN, to spread more advertising through a program in mp3s that activates when the mp3 file is opened. Of course there is nothing wrong with this if the file is legitimate. Artists could make their mp3s with links to their official web site, or label and so on. But it would be easy to abuse this technology for other reasons.

How Can I Protect Myself From Harmful Software Or Cookies?

• Have a spyware checker software or spyware remover on your computer
• Never install file-sharing software
• Check the background of software and company providing that software
• Read the "terms and licensing" contract
• Have two computers — one doomed to be bombarded with spyware since connected to the internet and one strictly for business, school, work and other professional applications
• Disconnect yourself from the internet

Software And Organizations Web Sites

GAIN http://www.gatoradvertisinginformationnetwork.com

Keykatcher http://www.keykatcher.com/index.htm

Spychecker http://www.spychecker.com/spyware.html

Network Advertising Initiative http://www.networkadvertising.org

Bibliography

David Coursey, Spyware, Part 3: Is using it illegalŠor just sleazy? http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2836365,00.html#

searchCIO.com, Definition of Spyware, http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid19_gci214518,00.html

Mark Rasch, Shutting Down Spyware Loopholes, http://securityfocus.org/columnists/113 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/27787.html

Mary P. Gallagher, FBI May Use Keystroke-Recording Device Without Wiretap Order, http://www.law.com/jsp/statearchive.jsp?type=Article&oldid=ZZZDRC3TZVC

William LaCoste, Spyware Is it Lurking on Your Computer? http://www.mynoodle.org/noodlesoup3/041503_spyware.htm